


New Dawn

by yandeerly



Category: Far Cry 5, Far Cry New Dawn
Genre: Angst, F/M, Far Cry New Dawn - Freeform, Fluff and Angst, In the bunker, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-09-16 14:35:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16955829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yandeerly/pseuds/yandeerly
Summary: Trapped in the bunker for over seven years, a New Dawn approaches, and the Deputy and Joseph must come to terms with the feelings they've held back for so long.





	New Dawn

“My deputy, won’t you speak to me today?”

Joseph Seed, the man who led the world into a brand new beginning, stood upright in the doorway to Dutch’s old bunker bedroom. Across the space lay a rickety old cot, the graying sheets ruffled and marred with age. They began to stir upon the sound of his gentle, coaxing voice, tossing to the side ever so slightly. A garbled mumble and a short huff trailed after before the room fell to silence once more. The former cult leader shifted his weight from one barefoot to the next, gripping the metal of the door frame far too tightly.

“I wanted you to know. It’s…” he paused, wondering if now was the time to speak or if, perhaps, he should just leave well enough alone. Deciding against that, he continued with a tiny puff of breath, “It’s coming upon the second month after the seventh year.” Stopping again, he waited, listening.

The body lying beneath the sordid sheets twitched but not a sound could be heard. Just like that, they were frozen again, like a figure immortalized as a marble statue.

Joseph brought his ash-toned brows together, dried lips turning down in a grim frown. Both arms, slightly weakened from the time spent in cramped up spaces, folded across his equally deflated chest. The dark jeans that once fit his hips snugly, hung rather loose, sagging in a manner that was almost severely noticeable. He itched to get out there, witness the holy Garden he had created, but, just how holy would it be without his deputy?

“I thought we could have a look at the world above today,” he tried again, keeping his tone low and soft so as not to lose his cool. “How does that sound?”

No response.

That’s how it had been for these seven long years, made to seem even longer with the unbearable curse of silence brought down upon him by the once great deputy of the Resistance. At first, he attempted to school Rook with daily preachings but quickly found that was the easiest way to get ignored. Next, he thought to transition into normal conversation; things like, “How are you feeling today?” And, “What would you like for dinner?” These sorts of questions seemed to muster a reply every once in awhile, but never more than a curt word or two. Eventually, he lost even those.

However, he would not allow for his patience to wear thin. He would continue to try and break down the iron curtain the deputy had drawn around herself since day one in the bunker. If he was getting close to wearing down, then surely she was as well. It was only a matter of time and, if he could remain devoutly patient for all this time, it would be quite simple to just continue on with it.

Barely audible, a shaky sigh passed his lips, and he turned on his heels to walk away. Briefly, he muttered a few words over his shoulder.

“I will get started on lunch then,” he brought up his hands, wringing them together gently. This next statement would come out passive aggressive if he wasn’t very careful with the tone. “Our rations are running low…” beginning slowly, his voice hushed to a whisper, “I believe this will be the very last can of beef stew. We won’t have anything substantial to eat soon…”

With that, he slid off the doorframe and stepped out into the hall. For some unknown reason, he paused, standing stock still on the metal flooring. A shock similar to a strike of lightning passed down his spine. Shivering momentarily, he slowly swiveled. Intense waves of heat travelled from the direction of the deputy’s bedroom, colliding with Joseph’s skin. When his eyes finally found Rook’s, they were peering from beneath a bump in the patched comforter. Her brows hung low on her face and she glared with a fearsome flame blazing in her bright pupils. The expression brought a cold sweat to Joseph’s temple, his mind momentarily flashing back to the Holy War when Rook would often carry this same look of determined anger. He hadn’t witnessed it in such a long time, it took him aback. Most often, Rook would shamble through the bunker like a dead-eyed zombie, if she even got out of bed at all. This was the first time in years she showed any sort of emotion on her paled features and, somehow, it frightened him.

Was it a sign? A premonition that he would never break through to her? Was all his work for nothing? He’d toiled endlessly for this bright, new beginning, but now he couldn’t even imagine it without her.

Gradually, his eyebrows fell and he prepared to shoot back an icy stare in return, however, that did not come to fruition. Rather quickly, his resolve dissipated, all the fury and frustration melting away in an instant. Instead, the blue of his eyes filled with a heavy sadness, dripping down his features until the corners of his mouth curved in a bleak grimace. For a second, a touch of true fear gripped him. He’d grown quite fond of the deputy’s company, even if she refused him the simplest of basic human interaction.

_What on earth would he do if she never opened up to him at all?_

Sucking in a large gulp of breath through his teeth, a final, haunting thought crossed the forefront of his mind. There would be no need to decoct dinner tonight, but, he _did_ have some other preparations to make.

With a sudden haste, he paced away from the deputy, swallowing the hard lump that had formed in his throat. A tightening began in his chest, spreading across the rest of his body and causing his fists to tremble and clench. Was he really about to do this? _Could_ he do it?

In a manner of seconds, he had reached the space that once served as a radio room. Without working airwaves, he’d repurposed it into storage.

Fingers shaking, he dialed in the code to the safe, missing it by a hair several times before finally managing to wrench the thing open. From inside, he gathered his old pistol, still loaded from a time long past, and shoved it into the black leather holster, attaching everything to his belt. The added weight caused his loose jeans to sink even further, but he paid no mind to such trivial problems. He had decided and he wasn’t going to stop now.

After arranging his sidearm, he went in search of all the other supplies he’d require: a backpack, a book of matches, a flask of purified water, and extra rounds…just in case.

Once there was enough to have him feel satisfied, he slung the pack over his shoulder and set off to do one final thing. In passing, he snatched an old, unimportant flannel from the locker in the corner of the room and made his way back to the deputy. _His_ deputy.

Tossing the article of clothing over his shoulder as well, he shambled into the hall and nearly jumped ten feet in the air when an entanglement of blankets and wild locks of hair seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

“Deputy!” Joseph exclaimed, nervously rearranging the bundle on his back. “You’re out of bed!”

Her darkened gaze flickered from the sweating features of his face and over to the mountain of supplies he carried. Concern flashed in her eyes as she continued to sweep him up and down with the strangest of stares. She was behaving as if he’d grown a second head!

Furrowing both eyebrows together, he questioned, “Is something wrong?”

“N-no,” she uttered softly, seemingly having to rip the word from her throat.

Joseph’s mouth fell open slightly as her voice travelled to his ears. Seven years, he had heard no sign of it and he found himself willing to wait seven more just to hear it again.

“Th-then…?” He pressed, becoming antsy from all the extra gravity pulling him towards the ground.

Confusion twisted on her face, as if she wasn’t even aware of what she was doing, and her ghost-like hands wrapped around the sheet crudely placed across her shoulders. With wide eyes, she glanced from left to right once, then twice, fidgeting in place the whole time.

“L-lunch, you said?” She barely mouthed, picking up one foot and tapping her bare toes on the cold floor. “I could…sit at the table with you this time…” The statement spurred from her lips like a sputtering engine having trouble starting, but Joseph drank up every sound of it.

“S-since it’s the last one!” She added hastily, squeezing the blankets closer to her chest and dropping her gaze to her feet.

“O-oh!” A small noise of surprise escaped his throat and he felt something warm swell in his chest for a moment. However, it dissolved just as quickly as it had appeared when his recent decision dawned on him again in an instant.

He wanted something more than just a single afternoon’s lunch. Something _much_ more. The part that saddened him the most was the fact that he was only just now realizing it, and he knew the deputy would not reciprocate.

In his moment of silence, she had continued to flutter her lashes expectantly at him, waiting patiently for a reply. The response he had to give would pain him greatly, but he knew it was necessary.

“Deputy…” he began slowly, gently, raising a hand towards her in hopes he could feel the soft locks of her hair between his fingertips, if only once. To his joy, she leant forward, allowing him to press all five fingers into her tangled bangs, pushing them off her forehead with all the care he could muster. “Regrettably, I believe these are our final few seconds together.” Breaths beginning to tremble, he desperately attempted to ignore the wide, glistening eyes she gave him. “While I would like to stay here with you forever, I am becoming aware that, that might not be what _you_ want. I must move on. There is nothing more I can give you, nothing more I can try. I am sure…” choking up, he stopped briefly, raising a fist to cover his mouth, “I am sure my efforts are greatly needed elsewhere…” he trailed off, unable to say more through the heaviness knotting in his throat but knowing it was enough for her to understand.

Not.

One.

Word.

The stillness was almost palpable, thick enough you could breath it in and choke. Joseph hadn’t expected anything more and didn’t need it. Her voice; he was able to hear it again and that was enough.

Retracting his hand from her hair, he slowly let it fall through the length, memorizing the feel, logging it in his brain. If there was anything he wanted to remember, it was certainly this. The sheen of her hair on a bright and sunny summer day in Montana, the angelic halo wrapped around her skull like a delicate wreath, the most forbidden of thoughts when he had led a gruesome band of cult members, quite literally causing terrorism. Now, they were just constants that would always flash behind his vision like a phantom reel he was unable to pause or erase.

His chest began to heave and he could stand there, before her, no longer. Without another glance, he sidestepped around the deputy, careful not to bang his overstuffed backpack into her body. The pad of his footsteps on a hardened surface softly echoed in his ears and, shortly, he wondered if he really was making the right choice. Since a year after they had been trapped together in this bunker, he had only wanted her happiness, to see her smiling again, and if this is how it had to happen, then surely it was the correct path to take. The world was full of sacrifice and it seems, even in rebirth, that would remain true.

“WAIT!”

A sudden shout reverberated off the walls of the confined space, sending tremors through Joseph’s skin and bones. He whipped around faster than he ever had before, a single strap of his pack flying down his shoulder. Grunting, he struggled to pick up the slack, only to have a force slam into his body so hard he was knocked to the ground. Bundles of fabric fell around him on either side, plunging his vision into darkness.

“D-don’t go!” The deputy’s hoarse voice sobbed into his chest, something warm and wet soaking his flesh. “Please! Please, don’t go!”

“What is this now?” He questioned, startled, but somehow thoroughly amused. “For seven years, up to a moment ago, you wouldn’t even speak to me!”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Sobbing and gasping, she uttered the words over and over, digging fingers into his sides and holding on as if he could disappear right then and there. “I’m so sorry! I was…I was just afraid!”

With a bit of shuffling around, he managed to shed his backpack, sliding it across the floor, and wrapped both arms around the distressed woman sputtering on top of him. She seemed to ease into the warm embrace, welcoming the waves of body heat rolling off his skin and sending a feeling he’d never experienced before piercing through his heart. It was as if his heartbeats were throbbing straight out of his ribcage.

“Afraid of what, my deputy?” He coaxed with a tone smooth like honey. “If there was ever something ailing you, you only needed to say so.”

“Th-the end!” She wailed, turning her cheek and pressing it into him.

Immediately, he placed a palm on the side of her head and ran long, gentle strokes down her hair, across the cheekbone, and to the crook of her neck. Bewilderment fell on his features as he replied.

“There is no end, sweet angel,” he murmured, continuing his ministrations as if it were his new purpose in life, “Only, beginnings.”

Rook shook her head from side to side, smearing salty tears across them both.

“N-no, you don’t understand…”

“Then explain. I will listen. I will always listen to you.”

A deep sigh passed from the deputy, Joseph’s caring words seeming to finally draw the answer from her.

“I…I’ve started to,” she stopped and swallowed thickly, lifting her head to meet his kind gaze, “ _like_ you, but I SHOULDN’T!” The last part was tacked on quickly. “I was trying to _stop_ liking you but…but…”

He continued to listen calmly, even as she struggled to speak, but he found he was unable to stop his grip from tightening around her.

“It didn’t work!” She finally breathed out, pure frustration lacing the tone.

This was something that had been bothering her for quite awhile and the effects were beginning to show on her face, becoming apparent to Joseph at last. The glare he had received less than an hour ago, it wasn’t a show of anger or defiance at all! It was simply a sign of the inner battles she fought every single time he opened his mouth to speak to her. Suddenly, he felt like the biggest fool in the world.

“I still like you,” her words were tumbling out of her mouth now, as if she couldn’t stop them. “I know it’s time to leave this bunker, but, I’m _so_ afraid! I was being selfish, refusing to talk to you _and_ refusing to let you go. What…what if I lose you? What if leaving this bunker means the end?”

“I would never allow that.” Speaking up abruptly, he cupped his hands around her cheeks, forcing her to meet his hardened gaze. “I…have become rather attached to you as well,” he admitted sheepishly, shifting beneath her weight. “This is only the start. I would take my deputy to the ends of the earth, to the deepest pits of Hell if necessary.” Falling silent temporarily, he pulled her even closer, until their noses touched and lips brushed. The intensity in his gaze flared between them and she could only manage to stare back in wide-eyed wonder, remnants of the final tears sliding off her chin and dripping onto his bottom lip.

“I am not letting you go. Not now, not ever,” he assured with a sweltering determination. “Because, you are my deputy and this our New Dawn.”

The words had barely left him when he closed the space, taking Rook’s trembling lips in his own and fulfilling a wish he’d never considered before but suddenly desired above all else. In an instant, those seven years became worth every agonizing second spent in tortured silence, traipsing echoing hallways built of cold metal, trapped in a continual state of always wondering _“why?”_

No more. The waiting was over and now they could start again.

_Joseph Seed and His Deputy._

* * *

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